Alessandra Korap
Alessandra Korap is a Munduruku indigenous leader from Itaituba, Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon. She is a well recognised defender of women’s, indigenous and environmental rights. She has been using her position to denounce human rights abuses that result from infrastructural mega-projects in the protected areas of the Amazon region, such as the São Luiz do Tapajós Hydroelectric Project and the Ferrogrão railroad. Alessandra Korap is also the first woman to coordinate the Associação Indígena Pariri (Pariri Indigenous Association), formed by thirty-five families from ten indigenous groups in the Médio Tapajós region in Itaituba.
The challenges and threats faced by human rights defenders in Brazil remain very high, particularly for those working on issues of land, environment, indigenous peoples, LGBTi rights, corruption and impunity. Many HRDs have experienced death threats, physical attacks, arbitrary arrests and lawsuits. The high number of killings is of particular concern and takes place against a background of widespread impunity.
